Some recent stories of kidnapping and murder have exposed gaps in Megan’s Law, which requires the 50 states to register sex offenders and make information on them available to the public.
The measure, named after Megan Kanka of New Jersey, who was raped and murdered in 1994 at age 7, leaves the details of enforcement to the states. The burden to register belongs to the offenders and, when they move out of state, so does the burden to register again in their new state. Problems can arise when residents and police are not alerted to an offender who is new or who has returned to the community.
Dru Sjodin, a University of North Dakota student, was abducted in November 2003 from a Grand Forks, N.D., parking lot and slain. Police have charged a convicted sex offender who was released from prison in neighboring Minnesota six months before Sjodin disappeared. Although he was considered high risk and lived just across the border from Grand Forks, he was not required to register in North Dakota.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) has introduced “Dru’s Law,” which would establish a national sex offender registry that the public could access over the Internet. It would require state prisons to notify local prosecutors when high-risk offenders are about to be released and impose stringent monitoring on offenders who are viewed as most likely to strike after their release. Legislation along these lines passed the Senate last year but didn’t get a House vote.
Public registries have provided an effective compromise between the desire of ex-offenders to get on with their lives and the need of their neighbors to be alerted to potential risks.
In Illinois, sex offenders are required to register in person each year for 10 years. Those who are sexually dangerous or sexually violent must register with local police every 90 days for the rest of their lives. Sex offenders who move here from another state or pay an extended visit must register within 10 days of arriving.
Other states have similar laws and provide Internet access to their registries. Nevertheless, each state maintains its own list and standards. A national standard and registry would make it tougher for a sex offender to escape the law’s grasp by traveling to a new locale.
